


can't run from myself

by SkyRose



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Dick's rambling thoughts, Family Feels, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, baby!Damian, some short pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 16:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13103790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyRose/pseuds/SkyRose
Summary: It couldn’t have come at a worse time.Or: Dick isn't sure if he wants to be Robin anymore and Bruce just brought home his new baby son.





	can't run from myself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laroyena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laroyena/gifts).



> Happy holidays! Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Title from Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing... because I'm a sap.

It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Well, that phrasing was harsh. _He_ couldn’t have come at a worse time.

It was a cold, harsh winter in Gotham. It made patrolling a freezing hell. Everything was slick and slippery or wet and muddy. The streets were lined with a mix of snow and dirt. It was a gross, uninspiring color to look at every day and night.

Bruce had been being unusually distant. He was always distant. He was just being extra distant. Dick hadn’t a clue why before. Now it made sense.

There was the dreaded fact that Dick was 18 and did not want to be Robin anymore. He had that realization one night as he was following Batman through a gloomy alleyway. It had been an oddly peaceful night because of the cold weather. Even criminals hated the cold, after all. Dick remembered staring out at the grimy snow and the silent city and thinking no. The problem was he knew Bruce wouldn’t take that as an answer. So he had to sit on it. It felt like the time in his sophomore year of high school when he had been dating a girl but decided that they weren’t working anymore. He had sat on the idea of breaking up for so long he began to despise being around her and going to school. When he finally dumped her in a loud, blurt-y fashion, he immediately felt a sense of regret and relaxation. He was happy to be over it, but, God, he should have done it sooner. He knows that he not breaking up with anyone now. Still feels like it.

Dick thought he could be cheesy about. _It’s not you, Batman, it’s me!_ Bruce probably… God, he had no clue what Bruce would do or say.

And then there was it! He! The screaming noise in the back of Dick’s head!

“Alfred!” Dick snapped. He was hunched over a notebook at his desk in his bedroom.

“My apologies, Master Dick,” Alfred said when he paused in the hallway before continuing onward toward the crying.

He was named Damian. He was the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. He was a screaming menace. He was an adorable baby.

Dick’s weakness was babies.

Dick will forever remember the flipping feeling in his stomach when he saw Bruce holding Damian. Pure confusion and _oh my god it’s a baby!!!_

Bruce had been suspiciously away on a work trip, according to Alfred. Dick knew something was up, something that Bruce didn’t want Dick to be involved with. Dick’s imagination tended to jump to dangerous situations. It was a bit dangerous, Talia certainly puts up a fight, but Bruce was fine. He didn’t need Dick with him and it saved him the breath of having to explain the situation to Dick. Everything clicked in Dick’s mind when he saw Damian. There were some details Dick still didn’t know, the obvious one being how Bruce found out about his son. Questions for another day, or never.

“Dick? Are you in there?” Bruce called for the hallway.

“Yes!” Dick shouted back as he slammed his textbook closed in dramatic frustration. When he turned, he found Bruce standing in the doorway with a strained expression. “What?”

“I… uh… Can you come shopping with me?”

Dick’s eyebrow rose at the question. “For…?”

“Baby supplies. Alfred has to stay here to watch Damian,” Bruce explained with a sigh as if it should all make sense to Dick now.

“I don’t know anything about caring for an infant,” Dick replied.

“Great! Neither do I!” Bruce exclaimed as he spun around and motioned for Dick to follow him out of the bedroom. Dick, despite his bewilderment, did so. Bruce handed him a piece of paper. “Alfred made a list.”

“Ah,” Dick murmured as his eyes scanning the list. Yeah, he really didn’t know a thing about babies.

They climbed into one of the many fancy vehicles Bruce owned. Once on the road, Bruce spoke. “I know this is random and Alfred is far more qualified for this duty. I needed to get out of the house. And I haven’t talked to you alone in a while.”

Dick nodded, cautious about where the conversation was going. “Yeah. You kinda just went and ran away for a bit.”

“And I’m sorry for that, Dick. It was time sensitive and I didn’t need any other distractions,” Bruce responded. His eyes never strayed from the road.

“So I’m a distraction?” Dick deadpanned.

“No. However, I’ll admit, you’ve occupied my mind more than usual lately,” Bruce said in a calm tone that made Dick roll his eyes.

“Don’t talk like that, just say you’ve been thinking about me, weirdo,” Dick teased, lightly punching Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce cracked a small smile. “Why have you been thinkin’ ‘bout me, B? You worried about me and Damian?”

Bruce’s smile faded from his face. “Yes, that. And… you’ve been quiet. Or, no, not quiet, you’re never quiet,” Bruce rambled, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. “Unenthusiastic. You’re not telling me something. It’s bothering me.”

Dick felt his heart began to race at that. “Always observant, Bruce. Good job.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you? Or should I start guessing?”

Dick shook his head. “Don’t bother guessing. I’ve just been thinking about my future… whether it’s here in Gotham or not.”

The brakes screeched as the car came to a sudden stop. Dick panicked momentarily, thinking his words had caused the reaction. He quickly realized it was because of the sudden slow in traffic.

“You want to leave Gotham?” Bruce inferred. His eyes met Dick’s.

“I don’t know,” Dick said. He opened and closed his mouth several times before softly repeating, “I don’t know.”

They were silent the rest of the drive. It wasn’t a comfortable silence they sometimes fell into, but an awkward, racing minds silence. They arrived at the store. Dick smiled when he remembered what they were doing in the first place.

\---

They left the store with everything checked off Alfred’s list. Dick did have fun picking out baby outfits for Damian. His favorite was the Superman onesie. When he had found it, he shouted in Bruce’s face in excitement. Bruce had rolled his eyes and thrown it into the cart.

“You’re just jealous there isn’t a Batman one,” Dick had laughed. Bruce’s silence in response made Dick laugh even more.

When they arrived back at the manor, Alfred greeted them at the door with Damian in his hands. “Master Dick, would you mind holding Damian a moment?”

Dick didn’t get to respond because Alfred seemingly dumped the kid into Dick’s arms. Panic flooded his body as he tried to figure out how to hold Damian comfortably. Once he found a position that resembled how Alfred held Damian, Dick stood up unmoving. He waited for Alfred to come back once he’d put everything Bruce had bought where they went. Damian seemed to find it as boring as Dick did because he fell asleep. A sleeping baby was just as worrisome as an awake one. Dick was petrified by the idea of waking the poor lil guy.

Damian did look like the baby photos of Bruce that Alfred had shown Dick. He’d grow up to look just like him. Just a little less pasty.

Dick lifted his head at the sound of a chuckle. He found Bruce staring at him and Damian in amusement. “Need some help?” Bruce asked softly as he walked toward him. He scooped Damian out of Dick’s arms.

“Thanks,” Dick whispered. He felt himself relax without the weight of the Damian in his arms.

“You don’t like babies?” Bruce inquired as they walked to Damian’s room.

“No, they make me nervous. I haven’t really been around many babies,” Dick replied. It was the second time he’d seen Bruce holding Damian. It still made his insides feel weird. It was… _cute?_ It was… _endearing?_ Bruce hummed and it sent a shiver down Dick’s spine.

Dick stared down the hall and let all the mental pieces fall into place.

\---

Dick and Bruce had been acting strange the past few months. Dick knew. He knew Bruce knew. And Alfred knew. Maybe even Damian, who’d only been at the manor for a day knew! Dick wasn’t sure what was so different between them. He did now.

He remembered all the awkward conversations they two had shared recently. There had been an elephant in the room but neither of them could distinguish it as an elephant. Just a blurry blob of confusing emotions. The truth was that they wanted to start over, just not necessarily how Dick had originally imagined it. Dick thought it was the heroics that was the sole problem. Dick knew that there was a problem there that he’d have to mentally untangle. He knew that he didn’t want to leave Gotham. That “maybe” he’d given Bruce was a lie.

Dick wanted something more with Bruce! That big elephant was their relationship! It was changing in ways neither had suspected. Well, Dick had, on occasion, indulge the idea of some less Boy Wonder friendly situations with Bruce.

It was all ridiculously complex. It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Dick Grayson crushing Bruce Wayne! Bruce was worried enough about his new son. He didn’t need Dick pining for him.

There was the possibility Bruce felt the same. But Dick had no idea either way. The only thing Dick knew was that Bruce was acting weird. It could be because he had mutual feelings or it could be because he knew of Dick’s feelings and thought they were wholly inappropriate.

And Dick could bottle up his feelings, like that sophomore breakup, waiting for it to explode out of him. But he shouldn’t. Bruce deserved his honest, well-thought emotions, not hasty, overly passionate ones. Dick wasn’t gonna muck this up. He couldn’t. He’d really have to leave Gotham if he did. He’d never show his face again.

\---

Dick, after careful mental planning, found Bruce in the Batcave. Bruce was alternating between his computer and a pile of metal bars. It took Dick a moment to realize Bruce was constructing a crib.

“Most people make those out of wood, you know,” Dick commented on Bruce’s handiwork. Bruce met his eyes, looking up from the tools scattered on his work table.

“Come to lend a hand or make fun of me?” Bruce asked.

“Neither. I’ve come to talk to you,” Dick answered with his head held high. No turning back now.

“Okay, go on,’ Bruce said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well, I… know that things have been awkward,” Dick began. “I thought it was because I didn’t want to work with you anymore. It’s the opposite. I want to work with you more. But, differently. I know that it’s not an ideal time and that it’s complicated.” Dick felt himself frown with doubt, but he quickly flashed a smile to cover it. No weakness, Grayson. Just confidence. “A relationship. I want a romantic relationship. With you.”

Bruce stared at him, eyes piercing into his heart and soul. “What makes you say that?”

Dick sighed. Time for the mushy part. “Because seeing you holding a cute baby made me melt. You know me better than anyone and I know you better than anyone. Except for Alfred. And you’re wittier than you’ll ever admit. And you’re a handsome rich bachelor,” Dick finished with a laugh.

“Hmm.” Bruce considered Dick’s words. He stepped in front of Dick. “Handsome… I always thought that word suits you better.”

“Oh, please. I’m handsome, beautiful, and sexy all rolled into one man,” Dick joked.

“Yeah, I agree,” Bruce chuckled. He lightly grasped Dick’s chin and tilted it so their mouths met. It was a light, quick kiss that was gone before Dick could process it.

“So?” Dick breathed.

“You were right when you said this was complicated,” Bruce said with a smirk. “I think we might be able to make it work.”

Dick smiled right back, feeling his stomach twist the same way it had when he saw Bruce holding Damian. “Maybe,” he agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudos or comment if you enjoyed! :)


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